Edward M. Chen

Edward Chen
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Assumed office
May 12, 2011
Appointed by Barack Obama
Preceded by Martin Jenkins
Personal details
Born (1953-01-20) January 20, 1953
Oakland, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley

Edward Milton Chen (born January 20, 1953) is a United States District Judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Oakland, California,[1] Chen earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley and a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1979.[2] After graduating law school, Chen served judicial clerkships for United States District Judge Charles Renfrew from June 1979 until April 1980 and United States Circuit Judge James R. Browning from June 1981 until June 1982.[2]

Professional career

From 1982 until 1985, Chen served as an associate at the San Francisco law firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer.[2] In September 1985, Chen became a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, specializing in language discrimination cases.[3] He held that post until April 2001, when the judges on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California named Chen to an eight-year term as a federal magistrate judge.[2]

Chen served as a federal magistrate judge from 2001 until 2011.

Federal judicial service

On August 7, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Chen to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by the resignation of Martin Jenkins.[2]

On October 15, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-7 in a party-line vote to send Chen's nomination to the full Senate.[4][5]

On December 24, 2009, the U.S. Senate returned Chen's nomination to the president. Senator Feinstein in an interview published in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 29, 2009 reiterated her support for Judge Chen and her hope that the President would renominate Judge Chen for the U.S. District Court.[6] President Obama renominated Chen in January 2010, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination on February 4, 2010.[4] On August 5, 2010, the U.S. Senate again returned Chen's nomination for failure to confirm.[7] President Obama renominated Chen to the seat on September 13, 2010 and again on January 5, 2011.[8]

On May 10, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Chen in a 56–42 vote.[9] He received his judicial commission on May 12, 2011.[10] Since being confirmed as a District Judge, Chen has been a prolific writer, authoring a number of major opinions. According to one legal news source, Judge Chen is the 4th most-influential district judge appointed since 2010.[11] The same source later named Judge Chen one of the "7 Rising Star Judges You Want to Clerk For." [12] Judge Chen's notable cases have included the civil trial regarding the shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART police office,[13] the criminal prosecution of former Korn/Ferry executive David Nosal for hacking,[14] and a number of cases being brought against Uber Technologies regarding the classification of its drivers as independent contractors.[15][16]

Issues with his judicial nomination

The Los Angeles Times reported that Republicans had issues with the fact that judicial nominee Chen had previous connections to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asserting based on a second instance that this appeared to be a thread running through Obama's nominations.[17][18] The Washington Times asserted that judicial confirmation had become a traditional partisan political battle for control of the courts and predicted that Chen would be confirmed.[19]

Carreon v. Inman et al

On June 21, 2012, the case of Carreon v. Inman et al, which has achieved some prominence on the Internet, was assigned to Judge Chen.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hearing on the nomination of Edward M Chen" (PDF). nabapa.org. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 President Obama Nominates Edward Milton Chen, Dolly Gee and Richard Seeborg to Serve on the District Court Bench, whitehouse.gov (August 7, 2009).
  3. ↑ Kim, Ryan (April 27, 2001). "Asian magistrate is a first in S.F. / Chen was discrimination specialist at ACLU". San Francisco Chronicle. p. A25. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  4. 1 2 Bob Egelko (February 5, 2010). "Senate panel backs Obama's judge nominee". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ Bob Egelko (2009-12-25). "Senate OKs magistrate as federal judge in S.F.". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  6. ↑ Bob Egelko (December 29, 2009). "Senate GOP opposes S.F. judicial nominee". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  7. ↑ U.S. Senate (2010-08-05). "NOMINATIONS RETURNED TO THE PRESIDENT".
  8. ↑ Bob Egelko (2010-08-07). "Republicans block Bay Area judicial nominees". San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. ↑ "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  10. ↑ "History of the Federal Judiciary". Fjc.gov. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  11. ↑ http://abovethelaw.com/2015/04/judging-the-judges-who-are-the-most-cited-new-jurists-on-the-federal-bench/
  12. ↑ http://abovethelaw.com/2015/04/7-rising-star-judges-you-want-to-clerk-for/
  13. ↑ http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_26069466/civil-jury-rules-favor-johannes-mehserle-denies-award/
  14. ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Executive-s-conviction-upheld-in-trade-secrets-4739243.php/
  15. ↑ http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/09/01/uber_drivers_granted_class_action_status_over_tips_employment_classification.html/
  16. ↑ http://www.law.com/sites/articles/2015/11/06/steering-uber-case-thrusts-sf-judge-into-spotlight/?slreturn=20160020115843
  17. ↑ David G. Savage (2009-11-16). "Senate face-off is due over judicial nominee". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  18. ↑ "Questions for Senate Record" (PDF). U.S. Senate. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Republicans revive Obama court pick fight". The Washington Times. 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  20. ↑ "Carreon v. Inman et al". Justia. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Martin Jenkins		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
2011–present 		Incumbent
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